SAXTON B. LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
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Saxton Reads! & Reviews

We invite the public to post reviews to our catalog by logging into our online catalog. Reviews will then be posted to this blog. Comments can be added to existing posts or may be added as separate reviews on our catalog
AUGUST 2, 2010
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else ~ Erin McCahan
****comments by Mercedes

I Now Pronounce You Some Else by Erin McCahan

I like this book. I will admit it wasn't exactly what I expected but I still like it. It was an enjoyable break from the catty, sex-crazed teen novels, or the teen vampire novels, or the dark, depressing, anguish-filled teen abuse novels that are in abundance. It isn't that these other books don't have a place but I frequently crave a book about a normal girl, with normal friends who isn't sleeping around, drinking, swearing, dressing like a vamp (or eating like one), and has normal dreams and aspirations. And although I would say our heroine Bronwen fits these criteria, she is also not normal. After all, who is? Bronwen is a high school senior, loving her boyfriend and eager to marry him. After all, he's perfect, they're perfect together. She's not crazy about her family, loves his. Marriage right after high school will solve all her problems or will it? Although I'll admit that Bronwen loves Jared and they're love is more than just lust or a moment, some of Bronwen's desires to belong to a family that appreciates her and loves her unconditionally drive her to Jared and his offer of marriage. It's something that I've seen a number of times in my own friends lives - a hope and desire that they will be better and have better lives by marrying someone. And while I think this can be true (my husband has helped me to be a much better person than I would be on my own - it can't be denied), still to put all your hopes for something better into someone else can only end in disappointment. Bronwen's struggles to understand who she is and what she wants out of life are well-written and understandable and I think the book could help any teenager to realize that young marriage isn't categorically wrong but who you are in high school, college, as a teen, in your twenties changes rapidly so that often who you were one year and the things you wanted are much different later. The themes of acceptance and unconditional love run throughout this book and I found Bronwen's relationship to her stepfather and even her mother to be profound and heartbreaking. In this seemingly light YA novel, so much more was at play, without being heavy or depressing. I ended the book with the urge to hold my husband and thank him for who he was, who we were when we were married, and for how far we've come along. I Now Pronounce You Someone Else was a lovely read, enjoyable and thought-provoking. I can only hope that teens who read it will find solace and enjoyment in reading a book about a girl who can have a high moral ground without being a loser, can make mistakes but find reparations, and knows how to find herself and the things she wants without losing sight of her dreams and hopes.

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